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Nearly a year after it was supposed to take effect, the physician pay hike for Medicaid services still hasn’t been fully implemented in Georgia and other states. The delays have come in states, including Georgia, that use managed care in their Medicaid programs, a physicians organization says.

Last week, the FDA recommended tighter controls on how doctors prescribe the most commonly used narcotic painkillers. The move follows a long debate over whether the drugs, which contain the narcotic hydrocodone, should be controlled as tightly as more powerful painkillers such as OxyContin. Rick Allen, director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency, said Monday that he believes the switch could help decrease overdoses and addictions to painkillers.

A comprehensive physician-led effort to fight the spread of prescription drug abuse and its destructive supply chain launched Tuesday in Gainesville. The initiative aims to attack the problem through education and legislation.